''Don't Close Your Eyes'' is the second studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Keith Whitley Jackie Keith Whitley (July 1, 1954 – May 9, 1989) was an American country music and bluegrass singer and songwriter. During his career, he released only two albums, but charted 12 singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts, and seven more af ...

and the last to be released during his lifetime. The album was released on May 31, 1988, by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. After the success of his debut album, '' L.A. to Miami'' (1985), Whitley re-entered the studio and began recording a second album with producer Blake Mevis. After its completion, Whitley was unhappy with its production, and he convinced his label to shelve the recordings. ''Don't Close Your Eyes'' was subsequently recorded with producer

Garth Fundis Garth Fundis is an American country music record producer. Active since the 1970s, Fundis has produced albums for several country artists, including Alabama, Don Williams, Trisha Yearwood, Sugarland, and Keith Whitley. He has also served as a judg ...

. The album's liner notes credit Fundis and Whitley with production on all tracks except "Some Old Side Road" and "Would These Arms Be in Your Way", which are credited to Mevis. The album became a commercial success, and was certified

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. It contained three consecutive number one hits on the

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart: " Don't Close Your Eyes", " When You Say Nothing at All", and "

I'm No Stranger to the Rain "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" is a song recorded by American country music artist Keith Whitley. It was released in January 1989 as the fifth and final single from his album '' Don't Close Your Eyes'', and was the last single released during Whitle ...

Track listing

*^AOmitted from LP and cassette versions.

Personnel

Compiled from liner notes. ;All tracks except "Some Old Side Road" and "Would These Arms Be in Your Way" Musicians *

Eddie Bayers Eddie Bayers (born January 28, 1949) is an American session drummer who has played on 300 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for fourteen years, has three times won the Nashville Music ...

— drums * Paul Franklin — steel guitar, Pedabro * Allen Frizzell — background vocals on "I Never Go Around Mirrors" *

— background vocals * Red Lane — acoustic guitar *

Mac McAnally Lyman Corbitt McAnally Jr. (; born July 15, 1957), known professionally as Mac McAnally, is an American singer-songwriter, session musician, and record producer. In his career, he has recorded ten studio albums and eight singles. Two of his sing ...

— acoustic guitar *

Dave Pomeroy Dave Pomeroy (born April 26, 1956) is an American musician, known as a Nashville vocalist, songwriter, and producer (Earwave Productions) but is best known as a bassist. He has played electric and acoustic bass for many artists, both in the stud ...

— bass guitar *

Matt Rollings Matt Rollings is a Grammy Award-winning American composer, keyboard player and record producer. Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Rollings has worked with many artists, not all country. Rollings won the 'Best Traditional Pop ...

— piano * Billy Sanford — acoustic guitar, electric guitar *

— lead vocals * Dennis Wilson — background vocals
Technical * Garth Fundis — production, mixing * Carlos Grier — mastering assistant * Gary Laney — engineering, mixing * Denny Purcell — mastering * Todd Sholar — assistant engineer * Keith Whitley — production ;"Some Old Side Road" and "Would These Arms Be in Your Way" Musicians * Sonny Garrish — steel guitar *

Vern Gosdin Vernon Gosdin (August 5, 1934 – April 28, 2009) aka Country music's "The Voice", was an American country music singing, singer. He had 19 top-10 solo hits on the country music charts from 1977 through 1990. Three of these hits went to Number O ...

— background vocals on "Would These Arms Be in Your Way" * Rob Hajacos — fiddle on "Would These Arms Be in Your Way" *

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

— background vocals on "Would These Arms Be in Your Way" * Mitch Humphries — keyboards * Jerry Kroon — drums * Mike Lawler — synthesizer * Larry Paxton — bass guitar *

Brent Rowan Brent Rowan (born May 28, 1956, in Waxahachie, Texas) is an American session musician and record producer who works primarily in country music. Active since the 1970s, Rowan began working with John Conlee through the recommendation of record produ ...

— acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Keith Whitley — lead vocals * Dennis Wilson — background vocals on "Some Old Side Road" * Curtis "Mr. Harmony" Young — background vocals on "Some Old Side Road" Technical * Bill Harris — engineering * Blake Mevis — production

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

Production

*Produced by

and Keith Whitley except for tracks 6 and 7, produced by Blake Mevis for Southwind Music, Inc. *Engineered By Bill Harris, Gary Laney & Todd Sholar *Mixed By Garth Fundis & Gary Laney *Digital Editing By Carlos Grier *Mastered By Denny Purcell

References

{{Authority control Keith Whitley albums 1988 albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Garth Fundis